Alyssa C. Opishinski ’10 received a Theatre BFA, concentrating in design and theatre technology. She is currently working toward a master’s degree in Textiles, Fashion Merchandizing, and Design at URI, specializing in Fashion History and Textile Science. She is a Costume Designer/Technician and Dress Historian.
Q. How did your URI degree best prepare you for your career path?
A. The hands on work involved in URI’s theatre productions gives you a great skill set that is applicable in any job setting, as well as life in general: project management, teamwork and leadership experience, creative decision making and critical thinking, and how to work with diverse groups of people respectfully. Remarkably, it was always a lot of fun and never actually seemed like work. Even when I haven’t been fully qualified for a job, I was able to use my experience in theatre to adapt quickly and do the work well. The theatre program is designed so that you get a little experience in every area and are exposed to many different points of view. In my experience this makes theatre alumni good team players, and inclined towards empathy and inclusiveness instead of divisiveness. I had such a good experience as an undergrad that I have since returned to work on getting my master’s in fashion history in the TMD department.
In your opinion, what is the value of the arts both academically and in the community?
The arts are a way for people to express themselves, tell stories, and come together as a community. Art is also a direct expression of the time we live in, and how people feel about living in it. Personally, I also feel that the arts can be a way for people to understand and learn ideas, such as in academia, that may not “click” with them by just reading a book or attending a lecture. Working with one’s hands – kinesthetic learning – removes concepts from the realm of the abstract and reflects them in real life problems. For example, working in costumes has helped me better understand history, geometry, color science, dye chemistry, and textile science.
What advice would you give to current students or to young people thinking of pursuing a Fine Arts degree?
First, the sorts of skills you get as a theatre student are not skills you may actually get in other fields. These make you an excellent job candidate, and give you an advantage over students who have a more “traditional” academic experience. Second, take chances, try lots of different things, even things you don’t think you will like. I thought I never wanted to work in wardrobe, but after graduating I ended up working for a long time as a dresser and I loved every minute of it. Allow yourself to be surprised!